The spring of 1870 was very dry in the Saguenay region of Quebec.

In a matter of hours, the flames destroyed everything over a distance of 150 km. Fire spread quickly. Most ran to the nearest body of water.

Surprisingly few lives were lost, many people were seriously burned. Nearly a third of the population lost everything; homes, barns, livestock, mills & bridges. Cut off from the rest of the world, the victims were reduced to building crude huts from seared tree trunks & sleeping on the fire-ravaged ground.

A disaster relief committee set up in Chicoutimi began distributing food, seed, clothing and other supplies sent in from parishes along the St. Lawrence and from Montreal & Quebec City. As a result of newspaper coverage describing their plight, aid from across the province arrived.

The settlement of the region was just beginning to take hold when the "Great Fire" struck. The stricken families stayed, forging a reputation as a remarkably resilient people.